The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, was battling to save his political career last night after it was revealed that his office was secretly passing information to the Murdochs during their £7.5bn bid to take over BSkyB.

The House of Lords has its defenders, despite being unelected and despite membership being for life. Its ranks include business leaders, scientists, medical professionals, civil servants, judges, military officers and others who might be put off running for elected office, but bring in a rich experience of life outside politics. They are not paid a salary, though they receive generous attendance allowances, so it is accepted that some will have paid outside employment.

Corporate lobbying will be "the next big scandal", David Cameron presciently warned before he became Prime Minister. A statutory register of lobbyists is needed, he said, to "shine a light of transparency" on the dark corners of parliamentary influence.